Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration has agreed to a $38.75 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging Chicago failed to give adequate notice to red light camera and speed camera violators.

Under the massive deal, more than 1.2 million people could be in line for payments of half of whatever they paid the city for their tickets. Those who qualify will receive letters in the mail in upcoming months notifying them they were part of the suit and telling them how to collect, according to attorney Jacie Zolna, whose firm brought the legal challenge.

The March 2015 suit claimed the city violated its own rules by failing to send a second notice of a violation before guilt was determined, and by doubling the fine for late payment of tickets sooner than allowed.

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Ald. Anthony Beale, 9th, who has railed against the red light and speed cameras, said the huge settlement underscores that the ticket programs are not about safety, but about "trying to balance the books on the backs of the people who can least afford to pay."

"What I can tell you is, 'I told you so,'" said Beale, City Council Transportation Committee chairman, when told of the settlement Thursday. "If you recall, years ago I said the whole red light camera issue was more about revenue than it was about public safety."

Over the years, however, Chicago's red light program has been engulfed in scandal. Tribune investigations of the program have found malfunctioning cameras and inconsistent enforcement.

•Drivers were issued millions of dollars in tickets even though city transportation officials knew that yellow light times were too short, falling below federal minimum guidelines.

•People were ticketed by speed cameras after the hours designated for ticketing in school and park "safety zones."

•In 2016, City Hall operative John Bills was sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking hundreds of thousands in bribes to help an Arizona company land tens of millions of dollars in red light camera contracts.

All of that has chipped away at the program's credibility.

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So, what now for this troubled program?

In 2015, after a Tribune investigation revealed that thousands of drivers were being unfairly ticketed, we said: "Chicagoans have no reason to trust those cameras. If City Hall can't make them an honest safety tool, then yank them out."

In 2017, honest isn't a word we'd use for this program.

I'd say it's high time to ban the cameras due to the abuse. Take away the toy.

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